Godfather, The (1972)
“I need a man who has powerful friends.”
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Synopsis: |
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Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:
Response to Peary’s Review:
… “employs different styles of cinematography and music according to time and setting, and introduces numerous characters in and out of the family,” all while keeping this nearly-three-hour-long film “coherent and consistently exciting.”
He points out that the extended opening sequence — “when godfather Vito Corleone… hosts the lavish wedding of his only daughter” and we “meet the many people in Corleone’s immediately and extended family,” including “family lawyer Tom (Robert Duvall), who is like Corleone’s fourth son”:
— “reveals the secret of the film’s success: Coppola doesn’t rush through his scenes so that he can squeeze every event from the book into his film,” instead having “fewer scenes but mak[ing] them count by making it clear who his characters are, how they act with each other, and what their allegiances are, providing time for even his less important characters to make strong audience impressions.”
Peary notes that the film shows the Corleones succeeding “because they are as shrewd and monstrous as their opposition,” with the most notable character arc occurring to “newcomer Pacino” as Michael Corleone rather than Best-Actor-Winning Brando, whose “character dominates the proceedings even when he isn’t on the screen.”
Among the “numerous classic sequences” in this film are “the opening in which Corleone first utters his famous ‘We’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse’ and agrees to help a friend of the family do away with the punk who harmed his daughter”:
… “the wedding”:
… “Michael rescuing his father from an assassination attempt in a deserted hospital”:
… “Sonny brutally beating his sister’s abusive husband”:
SPOILERS AHEAD … “Michael assassinating a policeman (Sterling Hayden) and a top man with a rival family in a restaurant”:
… “a Hollywood director (John Marley) finding the head of his $500,000 horse in his bed”:
… and “Corleone’s death scene.”
Most impressive of all, however, “is the brilliantly edited Corleone massacre sequences (one of several scenes with savage violence), in which the victims are killed at several different locations at the same time.”
Peary expands upon his review in his Alternate Oscars book, where he agrees with the Academy in naming this the Best Picture of the Year (though he nominates Pacino rather than Brando for Best Actor), and points out that the Corleones “are among the most peculiar of movie ‘heroes'” — “monsters” within “their sinister section of the world” who are nonetheless “the nicest guys around.”
Peary’s insights — along with all the many others available online and through DVD extras — are voluminous enough to prevent me from spending more time here on my own review; feel free simply to (re)watch this genuine classic knowing it deserves its fame (and stay tuned for my take on its equally lauded sequel). Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:
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One thought on “Godfather, The (1972)”
A no-brainer must-see. As posted in ‘Film Junkie’ (fb: 8/19/22):
“Women and children can be careless, but not men.”
‘The Godfather’ (The Coppola Restoration blu-ray): Methinks nobody really needs a rundown on this flick (besides, Wikipedia has an extremely thorough overview of the whole dang operation) – but a few thoughts:
Women and children are hardly seen at all – for the most part, they must be off somewhere being careless. Diane Keaton has surprisingly little to say and has about 2 scenes of significance. Talia Shire celebrates her wedding quite a bit at the beginning then basically has one (very brutal) scene in which she’s pregnant and being attacked. (This of course is just before the Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque showdown involving James Caan!) Keaton and Shire get to bond a bit near the end when Shire is given her mad scene.
I had not seen this film in a long, long time – now here it is, 50 years old! Watching it again did bring it all back – except for one or two scenes in which Pacino is preparing for his first hit job. I didn’t remember those. (I wonder why.) Everything else I recalled.
~ though I didn’t quite remember the fullness of the pacing and the tone. ‘The Godfather’ seems to have a pacing and tone unlike any other film – even unlike any other Coppola film. But although the rhythm feels slow throughout, there’s an underlying tension that’s omnipresent. And of course a foreboding. It’s methodical. It’s like the domino theory in slow motion.
It’s the story of a well-planned and detailed assassination of a ‘family’ that has seemed (to other ‘families’) to have outlived its time.
There are scenes we don’t see; certain elements of betrayal aren’t dramatized – which adds a sort of mysterious paranoia. Trust erodes, ambition won’t be thwarted; mostly in secrecy. (Even when it’s all over, some of the tied-up loose ends feel sketchy.)
I remember, long ago, being wrapped up in the storytelling. But a renewed viewing went beyond that, and even beyond the overall impressiveness of the film’s look (largely the work of DP Gordon Willis). This time I was genuinely creeped out.
Still… Coppola’s direction and the solid ensemble effort by the cast remain remarkable.